Dad died. He left Mum behind, malnourished, dehydrated, unable to walk or look after herself, and he thought he'd been taking care of her. This is the story of how I, along with my sister and wife, tried to deal with what he left behind.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Singed, sealed, delivered

Do you know that: In Alberta, Canada, if you want to sell a car, all you need is the registration slip. You can take that little slip, fill out the back of it, sign it, and give the car to a total stranger, and it's a legal transaction? I know, right? Fucked up.

No transfer form. No title exchange. Just sign the back of the form, fill out the name of the person you're selling it to. And it's gone.

Now, wait. You may be asking: "But, Hoto, of course that's the way it works. When you're the registered owner, you can sell the car whenever you want.".

Yeah. That's what I thought too. Sell that car. Sell that car to whoever you want.

Reality is: You can sell that car to whoever you want EVEN IF YOU DON'T OWN THAT CAR YOURSELF.

Yup. That's how it works. No registration with any kind of vehicle registry. No title transfer documents. No government form of any kind.

Of course, if you sell your buddy's car out from underneath him, he could claim theft, etc.

But my sister and I sold our parent's cars thus:

Find the form in the glove compartment.
Find a buyer.
Fill out the form.
Shake a hand.
Have the car taken away.

The end.

Actually, not the end. I sought out a vehicle registration agency in Alberta. Thought there might be a governmental office that oversaw vehicle titles. Etc. Looked around for a few days. Found an office of an insurance company that did vehicle registration. Went in to see them. Asked them about this. Confirmed the above is true.

In Alberta Canada, if you have the registration papers (which almost everyone keeps in the car), you can sign that vehicle over to another person, and it's a legal transfer of title. Fucked up.

But hey, worked for us.

One 2000 non running Saturn Sedan sold for $200 to a scrap dealer. (Sister: result).

One 1986 Volvo sedan sold for $1 to a friend who had sold it to my Dad in the first place. (Me: result)